Yesterday, Georgetown prevailed over Memphis 91-88 in overtime, a treat of a game for the sold out Maui Invitational crowd at that island's Lahaina Civic Center. The following press release documents the game, and is an excellent companion to this site's real time, in-game coverage, accessible via the Premium Court message board.

Clark, Sims Lead Georgetown to Thrilling 91-88 Overtime Win Over Memphis in Maui

Maui, Hawaii - Senior guard Jason Clark (Arlington, Va./Bishop O'Connell) scored a game-high 26 points and hit a three-pointer with 51 seconds left in overtime to give the Hoyas the lead for good as the Georgetown men's basketball team beat No. 8 Memphis, 91-88, in front of a sold out crowd at the Lahaina Civic Center in the Maui Invitational. The win improves Georgetown's record to 4-1 overall, while Memphis falls to 2-2 overall. The win also gave GU a 2-1 record in the Maui Invitational and a fifth place finish.

Tied 88-all after 40 minutes of regulation, a basket from Sims gave GU the early lead in the OT, but free throws from Joe Jackson and Will Barton gave Memphis an 82-81 lead with 3:28 left. A jumper from freshman forward Otto Porter (Sikeston, Mo./Scott County Central) gave the Hoyas an 83-82 lead and a layup from Sims made it 85-82. Memphis, however, got free throws from Stan Simpson and Wesley Witherspoon to take an 86-85 lead with 1:01 left.

Clark responded with a three from the left wing as the Hoyas took the lead for good, 88-86, with 51 seconds left. After a missed shot by the Tigers, Starks hit two free throws to make it 90-86. Simpson hit a pair for Memphis to cut the lead to 90-88 and after Thompson hit one of two, the GU lead was 91-88 with 19 seconds left. Memphis called timeout with nine seconds left, but the Hoyas did not give the Tigers an open look and came away with the win.

The Hoyas led by five points, 47-42, at the break, but the second half was back and forth in a game featuring NCAA Tournament intensity, with seven ties and nine lead changes in the second half alone.

A jumper from Sims tied the game at 75-all, but Memphis guard Joe Jackson hit a jumper and the ensuing free throw to give the Tigers a 78-75 lead. Clark was fouled with 1:43 to play and hit one of two free throws to narrow the gap to 78-76. Memphis was able to maintain possession after close calls in a span of 60 seconds, but Porter stripped the ball from Jackson with 30 seconds left. After a timeout, Sims missed a baseline hook, but it was put back by freshman forward Greg Whittington (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) with 18 seconds left and the Hoyas forced a miss by the Tigers to send it to overtime.

Georgetown held a five-point lead at the break (47-42) and a jumper from Sims early in the second half made it 49-44, but an 8-2 run by Memphis gave the Tigers their first lead since early in the first half on a three-pointer from Charles Carmouche at the 15:28 mark. It was neck-and-neck from that point.

A dunk from Tarik Black gave Memphis a 54-52 lead, but the Hoyas took the lead back after a three-pointer from Clark (58-56) at 11:52 and a layup from Thompson (60-58) with 10:53 left in the game. A three-pointer from Anontio Barton gave Memphis a 63-62 lead, but free throws from Clark and Whittington gave GU a 66-63 with 8:43 to play.

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game as Georgetown missed six of its first seven shots, but the Hoyas quickly caught fire. A layup from Thompson started an 11-0 run over 3:17 that was capped on a three-pointer from Starks as GU took a 13-9 lead. A jumper from Antonio Barton stopped the Hoya run, but it was the only field goal for Memphis in a span of 6:56.

The Hoyas responded with an 8-0 run over 1:20 capped on a three-pointer from the top of the key by Clark, giving GU a 21-11 lead. Memphis would close to within 21-17 on a jumper from Joe Jackson, but an 8-3 spurt over 59 seconds was capped on a driving layup from freshman guard Jabril Trawick (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends), giving the Hoyas a 29-20 lead.

The lead was still nine points, 31-22, after a Sims jumper with 6:04 left in the half, when Memphis went on a 13-6 run over 2:19 on pulled to within 37-35 on a three-pointer from Adonis Thomas. Clark, who scored 17 points in the half, and Porter scored the final eight points, including an emphatic dunk with 47 seconds left from the freshman, as Georgetown led 47-42 at the break.

Porter finished with nine points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and four steals as he logged a team-high 40 minutes, while Whittington added four points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals and Trawick added four points. Georgetown shot 48.6 percent from the floor (34-of-70), hit 42.9 percent of their three-pointers (6-of-14) and were 81.0 percent from the free throw line (17-of-21). Memphis held a 37-35 advantage on the boards and had the Hoyas handed out 15 assists with only nine turnovers, and 10 steals.

Georgetown is back in action on Monday, Nov. 28, hosting IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis) at Verizon Center. Tipoff at The Phonebooth is slated for 7 p.m. The game will be shown live on MASN, with Jason Knapp and Mark Tillmon calling the action. The radio call of Rich Chvotkin can be heard locally on Sports Talk 570 AM.